MF Global Finally Settles The Case With PwC; Amount Still Not Disclosed

The interminable legal battle between MF Global and PwC was reportedly settled out on Thursday, 23 March 2017. MF Global's former auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers accompanied the bankrupt firm to settle the mismanaged lawsuit by notifying the active judge in the case.

According to NY Post, Nader Tavakoli, the litigation trustee, and the bankruptcy administrator at MF Global had sued PwC for $3 billion in damages. The reason for the lawsuit arose due to a misleading advice by PwC, which was to remove a $6.3 billion European sovereign debt from the firm's balance sheet. This had led to a trial and MF Global's ex-CEO, Jon Corzine testified for the case as a witness.

We still do not have any updates on the amount that the case was settled at, but both firms noted that they have come to a mutual agreement with the settlement, as cited by CNBC. According to MF Global's bankruptcy administrator, the situation, which involved massive financial damages to MF Global due to PwC's negligence of suggesting the addition of $6.3 billion European sovereign debt during Q3 2011, led to complete bankruptcy of the firm in October 2011.

It is also to be noted that he was about to present a key evidence in the case that could lead to heavy losses for PwC, but the two firms fixed the situation through a settlement.

The PwC's side of story notes that the damages arose due to Corzine and his team was responsible for the decisions made on the accounting aspects that led to the fall of the company. While the trial was going on, PwC's lawyers defended their client by claiming that MF Global had overshadowed the actual cause of its collapse by focusing on the European sovereign bonds instead on the accounting aspects involved. However, the appointed U.S. District Judge, Victor Marrero, rejected this claim.

Corzine is currently teaching at Fairleigh Dickinson University and running a small office. He did not speak publicly about the bankruptcy of MF Global. But, he did testify about the strategies related to the investments which were focused on supporting the firm before it finally collapsed. He was noted of stand out during the financial crisis of the company, where he applied "repurchase-to-maturity" transactions. He also testified that the $6.3-billion dollar debt was mostly based on investment-level securities which were all having short-term maturities.

Corzine noted that the bonds have all been paid now and the firm did not lose any money on the European sovereign bonds. Also, the customers' funds have all been released as well.